Online Accounting Software for Non-profit Organizations

Running a non-profit organization is a very noble cause. Accounting is sadly a part of a non-profit too, and you want tedious bookkeeping tasks to take up as little time as possible so you can focus on the essence of your organization. Unfortunately you cannot get rid of accounting completely, but you can make the process faster and way easier. And this is why online accounting solutions cater to non-profit organizations, too.

These neat software can display your incomes and expenses in logical dashboards, let you create nice-looking invoices, easily track your expenses, pay your co-workers with the help of a payroll service and even allow you to give limited access to your constituents in order to provide complete financial transparency. And we didn’t even mention such “extras” like integration with third-party software, help from the customer service and the opportunity to learn more about bookkeeping through webinars and other means. No matter which solution you choose, with online accounting software your organization can better deliver on its mission.

Features

The wonderful thing about online accounting solutions is that they have plenty of different features to satisfy all organizations, regardless of the activities they engage in. When you purchase such software, you will especially find the following very useful:

Dashboard, aka Cashflow at a Glance

The dashboard of your online accounting software, which also serves as the main page of your account, is where all crucial information is displayed. You can see your cashflow at a glance, how much money you owe and you are owed, your bank statements, and many more. This gives you a firm grip on the finances of your non-profit and lets you see all key numbers and figures in one place.

Invoicing

Online accounting software are capable of quickly creating (multi-currency and/or recurring) invoices, either on your computer or on a mobile device. You can also customize your invoices to your liking and choose from sending them via email or snail mail. Furthermore, if a pay-as-you-go fast payment option is allowed, your clients can instantly pay you using their credit/debit cards or e-wallet accounts.

Expenses

Recording expenses is very easy with an online accounting solution: you just have to type in the necessary data, and attach a receipt which you have captured with the camera of your mobile device, and your expense is recorded. The expense can be turned into a recurring one, like in the case of phone bills, or into an invoice which you can send to your client to let them pay for you.

Access for Other Users

You can give limited access to your donors and shareholders who could see your donation and expense data, thus providing them complete financial transparency. Also, you can invite your accountant who can work simultaneously with you on your reports, which, by the way, are auto-generated by the software.

Payroll

This service, which either has to be activated and paid separately or you have to integrate a third party software, helps you file taxes and instantly pay your employees who can record their own time.

Integrating Other Software and Services

You think there is a feature missing from your software? Or you just want to make it more efficient? Well, if the company supports and offers an API, you have plenty of third-party applications and services you can integrate into your online accounting solution. E-wallets, invoicing apps, expense reporting tools, and software that organizes the data about your donors; they can all be managed from your online accounting software. Just give permission to your software to get the data from the other app you are using and you don’t have to switch between programs anymore.

For instance, if you have a PayPal account, and if you allowed your clients to pay instantly with the fast payment option, you can see your PayPal transactions imported into the software. With expense reporting tools like Expensify, you can track easily your expenses. With DonorPath you can identify hidden opportunities by getting updates about your donor information. The easy-to-use email and list management software Constant Contact lets you stay in touch with your donors in an efficient way. And with infoodle you can automatically import reconciled transactions and contacts to be quickly connected to donors, and generate receipts by any criteria.

Online Accounting Solutions Recommended for You

Choosing a fitting online accounting solution is not easy, but if you want reliable software full of all features listed above, let us recommend you two of the best solutions: QuickBooks Online and Xero.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks, one of the oldest competitors of the market, was mostly focusing on its desktop product, but nowadays it promotes its latest gem, QuickBooks Online. The software is intended for all kinds of businesses, smaller ones to big enterprises, and is available in 6 different languages. Becoming a QuickBooks Online users have many benefits: you will get access to all the major accounting features, such as invoicing, expense management, adding as many clients as you want, auto-generated reports, limited access for third-party users and many more. You also have payroll and a pay-as-you-go fast payment services, but these have their own subscription fees. The online accounting solution can integrate with over 300 third-party software, has stellar iOS and Android apps and offers a 30-day trial period and a 60-day money back guarantee.

Xero

Xero, considered the top product of over 600k users, is another good choice for your non-profit organization as it also has every feature you need to run your business. You can create invoices, bills, quotes and estimates, record you expenses, and even file 1099s either on the desktop or using the iOS and Android apps. The payroll service, which is available in 22 U.S. states, is integrated into your software, and you can choose from directly paying your employees with direct deposit or by check. Like QuickBooks, you also have the pay-as-you-go fast payment option with which your donors can pay you instantly. Other features include: integration with over 400 third-party apps, 24/7 customer service, two-step super secure authentication, three different pricing packages, and a 30-day trial.